JUPITER, Fla. — Maybe it’s just that old loyalties die hard. Perhaps Tino Martinez surveys his new team, destined for the National League East basement, and thinks the Yankees look like world-beaters in comparison.

But this is one of the founding fathers of the winning culture that still exists in the Yankees’ clubhouse, carried onward to this day by 1996 alumni Joe Girardi, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. So you don’t ignore him.

“You know you can’t count them out. You cannot count the Yankees out,” Martinez, now the Marlins’ hitting coach, said of his former team. “No matter who they bring in there, they’re going to bring in quality players who can play. In that stadium, they’re dangerous, no matter who’s in the lineup.

“They know how to play. They know how to win. And they’re going to find a way to do it.”

The Yankees have sustained a number of serious injuries since the start of camp, with Curtis Granderson (right forearm) and Mark Teixeira (strained right wrist) out for at least the first month of the season. And Alex Rodriguez underwent left hip surgery in January that will keep him idle until the All-Star break, in the best-case scenario. Yesterday, at Roger Dean Stadium, they lost to the Marlins, 6-1, while fielding a lineup that featured as few as two players (Brett Gardner, Kevin Youkilis) and as many as six (add in Eduardo Nunez, Francisco Cervelli, Melky Mesa and one of Jayson Nix/Dan Johnson) from their projected Opening Day lineup.

Martinez’s first season with the Yankees (1996) featured a slew of changes. He replaced Don Mattingly at first base, Girardi succeeded Mike Stanley behind the plate, Joe Torre took over for Buck Showalter as manager and Jeter won the starting shortstop job. Then the team saw Tony Fernandez, David Cone and Tim Raines all go down with time-consuming injuries.

Yet they seemed to rally around such change and adversity. This current injury epidemic is considerably worse, and these Yankees lack the depth of those Yankees. Nevertheless, Martinez said he believes some of the lessons from 17 years ago can still be applied.

“It seems like somebody always comes in and steps up there. I think this is no different now,” Martinez said.” Whoever it may be. Somebody will emerge in spring training and do well — a pitcher, a position player — until they all get healthy again.

“Basically, what you want to do until then is stay above water, get off to a decent start, and then get going. I know they have a lot of concerns and question marks, but in the end, they’re going to be fine. I don’t see why not. They have good starting pitching. Unless those guys go down, it’s a different story. But those guys, they’re healthy, CC [Sabathia] and Pettitte, [Hiroki] Kuroda. As long as those guys are healthy, they’re going to have a chance to win, as usual.”

Not everyone still under Yankees employ agrees. There is significant internal concern about the state of the current Yankees. The options to replace Teixeira — essentially, Johnson at first base or Nix at third base, with Youkilis playing the other corner — are particularly unappetizing. That’s why The Post’s Joel Sherman identified outsiders such as Casper Wells, Daric Barton, Brennan Bosch, Roger Bernadina and John McDonald as logical trade possibilities.

Martinez said the ’96 Yankees never verbalized their intention to shrug off their potential agita. They went to work.

“It was like, people would count us out, and we would go out and play,” he said. “We wouldn’t listen to what the media said. We didn’t get caught up in that.

“Everybody has their opinions. Are we older? ‘Yeah, whatever.’ We just played ball, won games and kept going. We didn’t really talk about it.”

The 2013 Yankees may not have the horses to secure an 18th playoff berth in 19 years, no matter how positive their mindset is. That history of success, however, brings confidence to the clubhouse. And to those who once worked there.